Sunglow
by ncfan
Summary: -Naruto x Karin- Maybe it's a little weird that she reminds him of his mother, but Naruto can't bring himself to care.


**Characters**: Naruto, Karin**  
Summary**: Maybe it's a little weird that she reminds him of his mother, but Naruto can't bring himself to care.**  
Pairings**: NaruKarin**  
Author's Note**: This takes place some time after the end of the Fourth War, and Karin has been—somewhat—accepted into Konoha. If this seems a little fun and cheeky, don't worry; this wasn't supposed to be very deep, but if it is anyway, that'll be great.**  
Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

"Lock the door behind you. I'm not taking any chances in _this_ town."

"Karin-chan—" Naruto only uses the appellation to tease her nowadays "—you've lived here for over a year without an ANBU tail. You're a kunoichi; I don't think you have anything to fear from burglars."

She shakes her head vigorously, leaving a cloud of fiery red hair to glisten in the glow of her overhead light. "Call it a fatal flaw." Karin snorts, and returns to her close guard of the pot on the stove. "If you'll forgive my paranoia, Naruto, I'll forgive you the fact that you're late. _Again_."

Naruto laughs nervously and dutifully locks the door. "Note taken, Karin. So what's on the stove?"

"Not ramen, if that's what you mean. You eat that stuff way too much to be healthy." Naruto comes over and stands over the pot on the stove to breathe in the scent, but by some lucky accident—or maybe _not _so much of an accident—his nose ends up deep in her hair instead. "Cut it out!" Karin shoves him off and with a single imperious finger directs Naruto the kitchen table, but there's still a small, coy smile on her face as she does so.

Even Karin—no, _especially_ Karin—can't help but smile when someone pays attention to her in this way. Especially given how unused she is to affection of this nature.

Naruto, in the meanwhile, settles into his chair and decides he'll just appreciate the view from there.

The process of them getting together started with a smile. A smile on his face and a smile on hers, on the way back to Konohagakure after Karin was picked up injured after a skirmish with Sasuke.

They start to talk, in whispers over the campfire, getting to know each other. He was lonely and so was she; they'd always been isolated in their own ways, and meeting one who saw things the way they did was like a meeting of two souls that fit like puzzle pieces.

Then, Naruto went off to war, and didn't see her for months—Karin was never allowed out of the village while the war was going on; sound practice on Konoha's part in all honesty, since they couldn't be at all sure if they could trust her at first. But eventually Karin managed to ingratiate herself with the right people—she is surprisingly good about that—and proved her worth and slowly, cautiously, the restraints on her were lifted.

And, when Naruto came back, and met her again, everything was different.

Back to the present, she actually looks very pretty, at least in Naruto's opinion, and he fails to see how anyone else's matters since he's the only one who will see Karin tonight. Karin's wearing lavender as usual, a high-collared lavender top with long sleeves—she's still conscious about the scars on her arms—and black pants since she doesn't like to wear skirts.

That long, vibrant red hair seems to glow like the sun in Karin's small apartment, so well-lit but at the same time seeming a little dull and bland and washed out. Possibly from the lack of anything of bright color apart from Karin's hair.

Everything seems so much warmer when he's near her. In quiet moments Karin has whispered the same thing, a little ashamed to admit it, but Naruto's sure he's the one who feels the warmth more. She lights up a room.

Just like…

Just like Kushina did.

Naruto decides that maybe it's a little weird that Karin reminds him of his mother. They look a lot alike, it's true, even though Kushina never wore glasses and her eyes weren't red. And they behave the same way, with a sharp temper and a softer side revealed only to those who've earned it.

And both of them seem to glow and gleam as though they've got the sun under their skin. The sight is dazzling to Naruto's eyes, of a woman who is all bright light and fire burning just beyond the surface of what he can see.

Karin turns on her heel and smiles briefly at Naruto. "It's almost done. You can quit squirming."

Yeah, maybe it's a little weird that Karin reminds him so much of Kushina. A boy's girlfriend, Naruto decides, should _not_ be so strongly reminiscent of his mother.

But he can't bring himself to care.

He's a bit busy basking in that glow.


End file.
